Off Shore on a Shallow Water Lake

[CDMeyer]

This is a hard question I know without many details.  But I guess what I am getting at is I want to become a more versatile angler, I would consider myself a very proficient power fisherman, I can run the bank with the best of them if need be.  But when tournamant conditions make that hard I would like to be better at going deep.  The lake I have most access to is only about 410 acres filled with tress and more wild rice to fish than you could shake a fist at.  However, there are still massive stump fields and deep (15ft for this lake) stumps.  Any advice on how to do this without wanting to pull my hair out at first? And can I fish those massive 6 feet deep stump fields the same as I would shoreline.  I have a Lowrance Graphing unit on my boat so I am able to see a lot of structure with downscan.  Any help would be much appreciated, again I know this is a very broad question but in a nutshell I am wondering what if at all is it possiable to offshore fish on this small shallow lake!

[deep]

Where would you have fished offshore if there were no stumps/ stump fields? I'd start exactly there.

 

A topo map would help.

[CDMeyer]

7 minutes ago, deep said:

Where would you have fished offshore if there were no stumps/ stump fields? I'd start exactly there.

 

A topo map would help.

Thank You!! Would it be fair to say that to have confidence in fishing being there, start in the am on productive shoreline near the channel.  Then as the morning bite dies off back off the shore and use my electronics to find a weedline or stumps or breaks likewise to the shore pattern I was running in the am???

[WRB]

Lakes that have palegic baitfish and dermasel prey tend to have more bass off shore. Lakes that have only dermasel baitfish that live near shore don't have off shore bass populations. 

Islands are off shore shoreline, underwater islands called humps are off shore structure, both offer dermasel and palegic fish a place to hide and feed should have bass taking advantage of the food source.

Natural lakes are a different ecosystem then man made reservoirs,no dam, no underwater man made structure, only a soft bottom with some reefs and islands.

Stumps indicate a man made lake that should offer off shore opportunities for a bass population utilizing the cover and structure.

Tom

[deep]

1 hour ago, CDMeyer said:

Thank You!! Would it be fair to say that to have confidence in fishing being there, start in the am on productive shoreline near the channel.  Then as the morning bite dies off back off the shore and use my electronics to find a weedline or stumps or breaks likewise to the shore pattern I was running in the am???

 

You're welcome.

 

In my simple mind, bass live both close to and off the shoreline, and some of them move back and forth. Offshore doesn't always equate to deep water, like Tom explains above.

 

I was going to ask about forage, but Tom covered that as well. If there are offshore shallow spots (or regions) with cover, forage and other preferred conditions, if I were a bass I'd stay out there and avoid most of the fishing pressure. In fact, fishing pressure and/ or lack of cover will both put bass away from the shoreline.

 

I see that you're up north. If there are larger predators (pikes/ muskies) that's another factor you want to take into account. I have no firsthand experience/ tips on this.

 

Unfortunately, I have seldom experienced this mythical early morning bite everyone seems to talk about. In any case I can usually fish after midday, so there's that. I have no doubt though that in a small reservoir, if there are biting fish near the banks, there are biting fish offshore too, shallow or deep.

[papajoe222]

Imagine the lake without the stumps. That six foot stump flat could possibly be a good feeding shelf, but I would concentrate my efforts on the the sections closest to deeper water to begin with. You'll see me mention this often, fish the entire water column. Top, middle, bottom early on and bottom to top mid-day.  If you catch fish in the six foot range, move up to the flat and target that depth. Same goes for the surface section. If you only catch a few in the 15ft. zone, stick with the deeper bite until it dies and repeat. You can work the drop casting from the flat to the deeper water and working your presentation up. Pay attention to that first bite, whatever depth you get it at will likely be the zone to target.

[Dirtyeggroll]

I would start by finding the Creek channel (if there is one). I would fish the stump fields that are near where the channel makes a turn. Additionally I would find the areas off shore that have rapid depth changes of at least 2-3 ft and fish those.

 

Grab a bottom contact bait and drag it slowly on the bottom as if you are using the bait to map what’s down there. Areas where you can feel stuff and have depth changes are likely to hold fish.

[Catt]

Sometimes ya just gotta keep repeating yourself ?

 

Just like I mentioned about fishing grass, find the structure first, & then fish the grass according to the structure.

 

This applies to timber, brush, boat docks, etc

 

These will be your high percentage areas!

 

[scaleface]

On a small 200 acre lake I frequent there isnt much water fluctuation , only a couple of feet . Any stumps that I find off shore are potential bass magnets because the bass have all the time in the world to find them. On lakes with a "lot" of water fluctuation , points and other classic structure are a must . Something for the bass to follow from shallow to deep as the water fluctuates up  and down .